Eurostar clocked up improved sales revenue of £178 million in the first three months of the year. The figure was up more than five per cent from the same period in 2009.

Passenger numbers totalled two million; and within this figure the number of travellers from overseas markets outside Europe increased by 22%.

The number of leisure passengers travelling between the UK and the continent went up by six per cent to 1.76 million.

New CEO Nicolas Petrovic said: “Whilst there is still uncertainty about the economic outlook, we have seen a big increase in leisure travel over the last three months, not just from the continent but from overseas markets.

“We are also seeing growing evidence of travellers wanting to switch from plane to high-speed train for longer, connecting journeys.

“Ensuring that our customers can enjoy seamless connections to other destinations on the continent is a key priority and we are committed to making that experience easy and efficient.”

Eurostar shareholders (London & Continental Railways, SNCF and SNCB) have signed a ‘Framework Agreement’ enabling the final stages of the restructuring of the business into a single unified corporate entity to take place.

Eurostar is trialling a service with SNCF to allow passengers to travel between the UK and Provence, connecting via Lille, in specially reserved coaches on connecting TGVs.

Tickets for travel to Lyon and Marseille on connecting services are on sale for travel from 1st June with prices starting at £109 return to Lyon and £119 return to Marseille.

A new leisure loyalty programme, Eurostar Plus, has been introduced to provide cash-back to passengers. The scheme also offers earning points by booking travel for friends and family.

Travellers collect one point for every £1/1€ spent on travel booked via eurostar.com and receive a £20/20€ e-voucher for every 300 points collected for use to book future Eurostar travel.

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